This invention relates to buoyancy compensators, more particularly, to a buoyancy compensator with an expandable cummerbund and an auxiliary harness.
Buoyancy compensators are commonly provided in a form similar to a life vest and include a bladder inside the vest. Buoyancy compensators are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,772, 4,561,853, 4,523,914, and 4,137,585.
A buoyancy compensator is used by a scuba diver to adjust his buoyancy during a dive. The bladder can be inflated with air to increase the diver's buoyancy and deflated when the diver wants to descend to a lower level.
The invention provides a buoyancy compensator with an expandable cummerbund or waist band and an auxiliary harness for assisting in supporting the weight of the breathing air tank. The cummerbund includes an elastic middle portion which is attached to the back portion of the buoyancy compensator and a pair of relatively non-elastic end portions which are adapted to be secured around the waist of the diver. An auxiliary harness strap extends upwardly from each of the end portions of the cummerbund toward the shoulder portion of the buoyancy compensator and is releasably connected to the shoulder portion by buckles.